Possible causes include muscle injury, osteoarthritis, and pelvic floor conditions. In females, it can also occur during pregnancy. In this article, we look at some of the causes of hip pain in females, the treatment options, and when to seek help.
Endometriosis (when tissue similar to the uterus lining tissue grows outside the uterus) can cause pelvic tenderness, which some women describe as hip pain. Pain from the back and spine also can be felt around the buttocks and hip, Siegrist says.
Back pain can often times be mistaken for hip pain since the hip joint is so close to the spine. Generally, hip and back pain can range from a dull ache to sharp pain. This can affect your mobility and everyday activities.
It's also important to seek help right away if you experience swelling, redness, warmth, tenderness, or soreness in the area of your hip joint because these could be signs of more serious conditions. Septic arthritis, for example, is a joint infection that can lead to deformities or osteoarthritis if not treated.
Hip pain can sometimes be caused by diseases and conditions in other areas of your body, such as your lower back. This type of pain is called referred pain.
Arthritis. Osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis are among the most common causes of hip pain, especially in older adults. Arthritis leads to inflammation of the hip joint and the breakdown of the cartilage that cushions your hip bones. The pain gradually gets worse.
Symptoms of bursitis of the hip
Symptoms include joint pain and tenderness. You may also see swelling and feel warmth around the affected area. The pain is often sharp in the first few days. It may be dull and achy later.
Over-the-counter pain relievers such as acetaminophen (Tylenol, others), ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin IB, others) and naproxen sodium (Aleve) may help ease your hip pain. Ice or heat. Use ice cubes or a bag of frozen vegetables wrapped in a towel to apply cold treatments to your hip.
Hip pain has many causes besides cancer. Cancer of the hip can be a bone cancer, metastatic cancer (spread to the hip from somewhere else), or leukemia (a bone-marrow cancer). Symptoms of hip cancer include pain, swelling, fever, swollen lymph nodes, night sweats, and generally feeling sick.
For example, the pain felt over the front of the hip, in the groin area, could be attributed to a gynaecological cause (a problem with the womb or ovaries), an abdominal cause (like a hernia) or a joint problem.
Discomfort or Pain in the Pelvis
A common symptom of ovarian cancer that can easily be brushed off is pain in your abdomen, hips, or pelvis. Some will feel discomfort during sex.
What causes hip pain? Hip pain is a symptom of several conditions, including arthritis, injuries to your hip (fractures, labral tears and dislocation), bursitis and structural issues. Athletes who move their hips in all directions, like dancers and gymnasts, are more likely to injure their hips and have hip pain.
Rarely, patients with significant abdominal pathology such as appendicitis and diverticulitis can present with hip pain. Diverticulitis presenting as hip pain is rare with only 15 reported cases in the literature.
Seek immediate medical attention
Inability to bear weight on the affected leg. Intense pain. Sudden swelling. Any signs of infection (fever, chills, redness)
Diagnosing hip bursitis
Your doctor might also ask you to do simple tasks like standing on the affected leg to see how your legs are functioning. Sometimes, your doctor will order an X-ray or MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scan, too, to verify that the pain is due to bursitis and not a fracture or other problem.
Symptoms of Hip OA
Pain in the groin is the most common symptom. You may also feel pain in the thigh, buttocks or down your leg to the knee. Crepitus is the grinding noise and “locking” or “sticking” that you feel when you move your hip. Stiffness in the hip joint makes it difficult to walk or bend.
Walking can help reduce stiffness, as the hip flexors are loosened up, which improves hip flexibility and range of motion. Reduce inflammation in the hips. Arthritis causes chronic inflammation, and walking as a form of exercise boosts blood flow to your hip joint cartilage, which helps decrease inflammation.
While muscle pain is pain felt when the body is in motion, joint pain is more often felt when the body is at rest.
This pain can feel sharp or stabbing and radiate (move or spread). Nerve damage or irritation can also cause neuropathy, resulting in numbness or tingling, muscle spasms, and weakness. Hip pain from endometriosis can start in your back or pelvis and radiate to your hip, buttocks, or legs.
"Hip pain from sitting can be from poor posture, but if you're sitting 40 to 50 hours week over 5, 6 months or longer, you probably have decreased strength in your hips. When you do get up from your desk, your glutes, core and hip extensors will be weaker, and you don't feel as strong."
Any hip pain that does not improve in a short period of time should be checked out by a qualified medical professional. First of all, minor muscle strain or ligament sprain can resolve which rest, but they can also develop into more chronic, nagging, long-term strain and repeated hip injury.
If you experience these for longer than 6 weeks, you may need to speak to a healthcare professional. Occasionally, problems felt in your hip can be due to a back problem - even though you don't feel pain in your back.